Robertson GeoConsultants Inc. Consulting Engineers and Scientists for the Mining Industry

Meet our Team

	Dr. Andy Robertson has a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering, a Ph.D. in Rock Mechanics and 30 years of experience in mining geotechnics and environmental engineering. His experience includes periods of work with a mining company and specialist foundation construction contractor, providing him with practical field experience. In the 27 years he spent as one of the three senior principals of Steffen, Robertson & Kirsten and as the president of Robertson GeoConsultants Inc., he has been responsible for the development of the mining geotechnical and environmental engineering practices in the areas of: Rock Slope Engineering which was also the subject of his Ph.D. thesis, Tailings Dam Design, Mine Waste Management including acid mine drainage prediction and control, Environmental Liability Assessment and Mine Closure Plan development, including financial assurance requirements assessment. He has been the lead investigator and/or designer for numerous project teams for mining companies and provides review and senior evaluation and counseling to a number of mining companies, research establishments, professional associations and provincial, state and federal agencies. Dr. Robertson participates on numerous technical review boards for mining companies and regulatory authorities. He has published extensively, participated in the drafting of numerous technical guides currently used by industry and regulatory bodies alike, and has been the recipient of a number of technical and industry awards.
	Dr. Christoph Wels has a B.Sc. in Hydrology, a M.Sc. in Watershed Ecosystem Studies and a Ph.D. in Hydrogeology with over 15 years of professional experience in academic research and consulting. He has published several scientific papers in the areas of contaminant hydrogeology and watershed hydrology. Dr. Wels is Principal and Senior Hydrogeologist with Robertson GeoConsultants Inc. and specializes on groundwater modeling and evaluating the impact of mining projects on groundwater resources. He joined Robertson GeoConsultants in 1995 and has since been consulting to the mining and environmental industry in the areas of: hydrogeology for open pit & underground mines seepage control for tailings impoundments & waste rock piles reclamation of tailings impoundment including cover design evaluations contaminant plume characterization & remediation project management As senior hydrogeologist of RGC, he is responsible for all aspects of hydrogeological investigations from field work to detailed groundwater flow and transport modeling. His fluency in English, Spanish and German allows direct communication with clients and regulatory agencies all over the world.
Jack Caldwell	Jack Caldwell, P.Eng, has a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering, an M.Sc. (Eng.) in Geotechnical Engineering and a post-graduate law degree. He has over 35 years engineering experience on mining, civil, geotechnical and site remediation projects. He has worked on numerous projects throughout southern Africa, Europe, Canada and the United States. His project experience includes: mines and waste disposal facilities - design, construction supervision and reclamation of tailings impoundments, mine rock dumps, heap leach pads, landfills and radioactive waste disposal units; hazardous and radioactive waste site remediation - senior management and technical consultant landfills - design, construction, operation and closure with special focus on liners, covers, and soil reinforcement. In addition, Mr. Caldwell has been the lead specialist for various geotechnical and civil engineering projects in Southern California. Mr. Caldwell has written many engineering reports, proposals, and technical papers. He is the lead author of the book, Principles and Practice of Waste Encapsulation, on the design of waste disposal facilities for radioactive and hazardous wastes.
Olga Martychina	Ms. Olga Martychina has a M.Sc. in Cartography and over 17 years of professional experience in the Geomatics Industry. She has a wide range of experience in Project Management, GIS and Digital Mapping Technologies. She directed and coordinated all aspects of spatial projects; this includes the design and execution of workflow procedures, the creation of spatial/attributes data and products, and the development and application of quality control procedures. She has advanced knowledge of ESRI, CAD and other Spatial Data handling software modules. Additionally, Olga received The Intergraph Golden Mouse Award in Mapping Sciences for the 1:2,000,000 scale shaded relief map of the Province of BC, Canada in 1998. Olga recently joined Robertson GeoConsultants Inc. and will be responsible for the management and implementation of Mapping production activities, GIS analysis and database management.
Paul Ferguson	Dr. Paul Ferguson has a B.Sc. in Geology and a Ph.D. in Geochemistry with 7 years of professional experience in academic research and consulting. He has published several scientific papers in the areas of aqueous and isotope geochemistry and presented at numerous international conferences. Dr. Ferguson is the Senior Geochemist at Robertson GeoConsultants Inc. and specializes in evaluating the impact of mining on local groundwater resources. He joined Robertson GeoConsultants in 2008 and has been a consultant to the mining and environmental industry in the areas of: contaminant plume characterization & remediation for open pit & underground mines & contaminated sites hydrogeology & contaminant load balances project management
Reinhard Zapata	Reinhard Zapata has more than 15 years of international working experience in consulting hydrogeology. During his career he has led groundwater management tasks for construction projects (buildings and tunnels), groundwater infiltration into mines, aquifer vulnerability/ susceptibility assessment, and contaminant transport/remedial system design. He has completed the hydrogeologic characterization and groundwater resource management of many regional-scale studies. His practice includes modeling in complex environments for density driven flow, variably saturated flow, heat and reactive mass transport. With his experience in practical applications he provided clients with technically sound and cost effective solutions.
Lawrence Charlebois	Mr. Lawrence Charlebois holds a B.Sc. in Geological-Environmental Engineering and is enrolled as an Engineer-In-Training in the province of British Columbia. Lawrence has experience in field investigation as well as data reduction and interpretation, with experience in numerical/analytical modeling and geomatics pertaining to geotechnical and hydrogeological projects. In 2009, Lawrence was 2nd Prize recipient of the Geotechnical Society of Canada's Student Competition for the submission of his group design project. Mr. Charlebois joins Robertson GeoConsultants Inc. as a staff hydrogeologist and geological engineer.
Diane Moug	Diane Moug joined Robertson GeoConsultants Inc. in 2010 as a Geotechncial Engineer/ Hydrogeologist after graduation from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Geological Engineering. She currently holds the title of Engineer-In-Training in the province of British Columbia. Her experience includes geotechnical field exploration, hydrogeological site evaluations and laboratory investigation & geochemical modeling of neutral mine drainage potential.